In a shared bus system, multiple bus agents may be coupled to the shared bus. Data transfers are dictated by a system clock that provides timing for receiving and transmitting data across the shared bus between bus agents. Each bus agent generates an internal bus clock that is a replica of the system clock. An associated internal bus clock is employed by a respective agent to drive data to the bus to be received by one or more other bus agents. Additionally, an associated internal bus clock is employed by a respective agent to latch in data received from another respective agent on the shared bus. Therefore, synchronization between internal bus clocks of agents coupled to the shared bus is extremely important for the reliable exchange of data.
However, even if accurate synchronization of the internal bus clocks is achieved, a given agent may drive data over the bus later than other agents due to inherent or intrinsic characteristics associated with the given agent. As bus frequencies increase, this becomes more problematic and can result in data driven from a source agent not reaching a destination agent in time for the destination agent to latch the data (e.g., within a single clock cycle).